Scientists use lightning bolt to charge mobile phone
2 centuries years after Mary Shelley used lightning to breathe life into Frankenstein's monster, scientists have copied her idea to power a phone.
The proof-of-concept experiment was conducted at the University of Southampton in collaboration with Nokia.
The mobile firm warned users "not to try this at home".
Harnessing nature in this way could provide power sources where electricity is in short supply, said experts.
Using a transformer, the team recreated a lightning bolt in the lab by passing 200,000 volts across a 30cm (12in) air gap.
"We were amazed to see that the Nokia circuitry somehow stabilised the noisy signal, allowing the battery to be charged," said Neil Palmer, from the University of Southampton's high voltage laboratory.
clever eh!
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